Safety valve



Patented Sept. 1', 1925.

UNITED STA-TES PHILIP G. DARLING, oE BRIDGEPORT, coNNEc'rIUT, AssIeNuR To IIANNING', MAX- WELL a mooRE, INc., or NEW YoRx, N. Y., A' CORPORATION 0E NEW JERSEY.

SAFETY VALVE.

.implication mea June 25, 1923. 4serial No; 647,460.

To all lwhom t may concern: Be it known that I, PHILIP G. DARLING, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and -State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Valves, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as Will enable' others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to valves and more particularly tovalves adapted to open upon the exertion of a predetermined pressure.

An object of this invention lis to provide a device of the character described which will be inexpensive in manufacture and'eliicient in operation.

.A further object is to provide a device of the character described in which perfect freedom of' operation is obtained while the actuatingmechanism is protected from the ldeleterious effect of the controlled fluid.

A further object is to enable a device of, the character described to be manufactured with a minimum number of machined surfaces.l

Other objects of the inventionwill in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

In devices of the character described there may be used a mechanism to control or be controlled by the valve which is of such a character that it is desirable that it shall not come 'in contact with the fluid to be controlled. More particularly when the 1nvention is used in connectlon with a safety valve for the c ontroi of steam -in which the cation ofwhich will be indicated in the claims.

Since in practlce, the incorporation of i ,-this invention with pressure valves for the control of ysteam is especially advantageousand typrical of the uses to whichv it may be put, a steam safety valve embodying the essential elements thereof is represented by the accoxnpanylng drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation with the outerl valve seat 2 which may conveniently be in the shape of a conical frustum. Adapted to co-operate with this seat is a valve member 3 having a. valve surface 4 corresponding to the seat surface 2.

movement to and from the valve seat surf face.

' A housing 8 is adapted to be screwed as at 9 onto the stud 1 in such position that` a lower portion or shell 10 of said housing will surround the valve and valve seat surfaces and a second portion will project therel above to form a housing 11 as will be later described. The shell 10 and housing 11 areA preferably radially spaced from each other .and attached together by ribs 10a to form therebetween orificesA, for the escape of steam or the orifices may be formed at'any other convenient point as for example at the bottom of the shell.

A stem 12 is arranged forr longitudina vertical movement in a bushing 13 in the upper wall of the housing l1 and extends from' there downwardly into a recess 14 in the valve where it bears against the bottoni` of said recess as shown at 15. Mounted may be conveniently 4a ranged to bear within the housing 11 is spring '16 which against the under side of he bushing. 13 and at its other extremity to bear upon a washer 17 which is connected to the rod 12 by bearing against a collar 18 fitting tight upon the vrod and preferably engaging a notch the 1ein as shown at 19. The force of the spring 16 isthus exerted between the bushin 13 and the valve 3 through the medium o the rod 12to urge the valve toward its seat:I

In the form illustrated in Fig. 1 the rod 12 extends upwardly beyond the upper portion of the housing 11 where there is attached to it a collar 20 in position to' be engaged by a lever 21 pivoted as at 22 to a cap 23 fastened upon the top of the housing 11. By this means the lever 21 may be caused to raise the collar 2O to lift or assist in raising the valve from its seat.

A bushing 24 will be provided within the recess in the valve 3 to engage the rod 12 and maintain the rod co-axial with the valve.

In the form illustrated Il prefer to previde a blow-down ring 24a which may be conveniently screwed tothe outside of the stud 1 at a point opposite the valve surface. The outer surface of the blow-down ring is provided with flutings shown at 25, to enable its position to be easily adjusted whereby the blow-down pressure of the valve is changed, kand its inner surface is smoothly conical as shown.

With a device of this character it is desirable that the steam be prevented from gaining access to the spring chamber and yet it is not desirable to provide a cap for the lower end of the spring chamber to close itat all times as provision must be made for reciprocatory movement between the cap and said housing to permit the valve to move. The cap should not have a sliding contact with thel housing as in this event it would have excess of friction therewith and the expense of machining such cooperating surfaces would be detrimental to the marketing of the valve.

It has been discovered that the spring housing ma with the va ve member2 and that by properly co-relating the various factors, the cap may be arranged in spaced relation .to the housing when the valve is closed and movable toward said housing as the valve opens, while at the same time its surfaces may be so arranged that the rush of steam past them will completely prevent the entrance of any steam into the spring chamber whether the movement of the valve be suliicient to bring the washer into complete engagement with the lower end of the housing or not. To prevent rebound of compressed air entrapped in casing 11, by sudden opening of the valve, an exit opening 31 may be provided therein.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 the washer 17 is provided with a downwardly flaring apron v`27 having an upwardly directed ange 28 at its lower edge. This flange 28 has an edge face 29 adapted when the valve is fully open nearly to contact with the lower edge 29"?l of the casing 11. The outer surface of the flange 28 is smoothly conical and spaced from the inner surface of the ring 24a, thus providing an annular orifice, the opposite walls of which preferably converge as illustrated, through which the steam escaping from the opened valve issues. This annular jet flares upwardly and outwardly thus diverging from the axis of the valve and increasing in dibe closed by a cap movable,

tially similar to that illustrated in Fig. 1.v

In this case the washer 17a is of somewhat different construction but nevertheless has deliecting surface 30a in position to prevent the entrance of any steam to the interior of the housing and it contains at the upper edge of said deflecting surface a surface 29 adapted to approach the lower end 29a of the housing when the valve is raised. As illustrated in this,y drawing no lever is pr0 vided for openingthe valve but this is an optionall feature which can be used with either form of the device or with neither.

In either form the operation will be'clear from the above description. When the steam pressure exceeds the tension on the spring 16, the valve 5 will rise carrying the washer 17, which by the approach of the surface 29 to the surface 29a will tend to close the housing. The deflector 30a will deflect the steam flow outwardly away from the opening between the surfaces 29 and 29a, thus creating a ,suction at that point which efl'ectually prevents the admission of steam to the chamber 11 whether the surfaces 29 and 29a be in actual contact, to make a tight closure or not. It is therefore not necessary that these surfaces be accurately machined. l

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scopethereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the eneric and specific features of the invention herein described, yand all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a device of the character described, in combination, a valve seat and valve member, a spring adapted to urge said valve member toward the valve seat, a casing enclosing the spring, said casing havin a normally open end spaced from the va ve seat, a member normall spaced from the end of the casing and a apted to be moved by the valve member into close proximity to the edge of the open end ofthe casing' 2. A device of the class described comprising a valve seat, a valve co-operable thereing.

with, a spring urging the valve toward its seat, a casing enclosing the spring, the cas-l ing having an open end spaced from the valve seat, and a member constituting an abutment tor the sprin said member being diametrically greater n and normally of the casing but being movable with the valve and in its limiting position of movement adapted substantially to close said open end of the cas,-

3. A device of the class described com'- prising an annular valveseat, a valve co-op erable therewith, a springfnormally opera.- tive to liold the valve against the seat, a casing housing the spring, said casing normally being open at that end adjacent to the valve, and means comprising opposed spaced substantially smooth conical surfaces operative upon. opening ofthe valve toi" directing the Huid escaping therefrom 'in -an annular stream diverging outwardly I' ,and away from the Qin ' casing co-operating prising a lower" edge of the caso' C. u r l i 4; A device of the class described comprising an annular valve seat, avalve'cooperating therewith, a spring pressing the" valve toward its seat, a casing housing the spring, said casing being coaxial with the 'valve seat and having one end spaced from and normally open toward the valve, means coaxial with the valve seat providing a substantially smooth conical surface diverging outwardly therefrom, and means interposed between the valve and the open end of the with said diverging surface to direct the fluid issuing from be. tween the valve and its -seat in an annular stream diverging away from the open end of the casing. L V

5. A device of the class described comp valve seat, a valve co-operable therewith, a spring pressing the valve toward its seat, a cylindrical casing housing the valve, one end of the casing being axially spaced from the valve seat and o n toward the latter, Iand a' circular mem r coaxial with the valve seat and constitutin an abutment for one end of the spring, saidsaid apron normallybeing Iend of the casing,

.vergent outwar member being of a diametei'substantially fluid prising a valve seat, af valve o o-operating therewith, means for pressing the valve against the seat, acasing housing said means, the casing having an open enI spaced from the valve seat, a circular apron coaxial with the valve seat and movable with the valve, said apron having a surface movable into close proximity to the edge of the open end of the casing and a'substantia'lly smooth conical peripheral edge divergent from the valve seat, and an annular blow-down ringalso having a smooth conical divergent .surface co-operable withl the conical edge of the apron to'direct the fluid issuing ,from the valve outwardly and away from the open end of thecasing;

7 A` device of the classdescribed comprising a valve seat, a valve co-operable therewith, said valve having an laxial stem, an abutment secured to the stem, a spring engaging' the abutment to press the valve toward its seat, a casing housing the spring, said casing having an open end spaced from the valve seat, an apro-n projecting from the spring abutment having a peripheral edge diverging outwarfdly from theV valve seat, spaced from the open endof the casing and divertin fluid issuing from the valve seat outwar y and away from the open end of the casing 8. A device of the class described comprising a. valve seat, a valve co-operable therewith, said valve having an axial stem,

`a casing concentric with the stem, said casopen end spaced from the ing `having .an valve, a spring housed in the casing, a washer secured to the stem constituting an/ abutment for one end of the spring, said washer normally being disposed within the open an vannular apron extending from the edge of the washer toward the valve, said apron having an annular surface normally spaced from but engageable with the edge of theopen end of the' casing, and a eripherakedge portion didly and away from the valve seats' v In testimony whereof I aix my signature.A

' PHILIP G. DARLING. 

